The Hammered Dulcimer

What the dulcimer is, is a stringed instrument that has perceived to be an ancestor to the modern piano. It possesses a number of courses of between two and five strings for each note, and they are stretched across a shallow trapezoid shaped box that is made out of wood. Players are responsible for striking the strings using hammers, which are shaped similarly to spoons, in order to produce a brilliant range of different tones on the metal strings. There is also a pedal, connected by way of a cord to the instrument's box, which behaves as a sound damper in order to create modifications to the instrument's tone.

The dulcimer is rumored to be a descendant from the santir, a Persian instrument. The dulcimer originated from the middle eased and then was carried through to Spain by around the 1100s and then to China by around the 1800s.

The dulcimer ended up becoming a common folk instrument all throughout Europe, and it went on to acquire a number of different names all throughout different countries in the region. For example:

• In Switzerland, the hammered dulcimer is known as the hackbrett.
• In the Czech Republic, the hammered dulcimer is known as the cimbal.
• In Hungary, the hammered dulcimer is known as the cimbalom.
• In Greece, the hammered dulcimer is known as the santouri.

The first completely chromatic instrument standing on legs while featuring a pedal like a piano in order to dampen the tones was the Hungarian hammered dulcimer, the Cimbalom.

Because the instrument known as the zither is also referred to as a dulcimer in the US, the way that the two instruments are differentiated is by calling this one the hammered dulcimer, referring to the way that the instrument is played. The other type of dulcimer is the Appalachian mountain dulcimer or the lap dulcimer is not actually hammered, but rather it is plucked using either a plectrum or the fingers.

The Lap Dulcimer

The Appalachian mountain dulcimer is a descendent of the zither that is diatonically fretted. The zither was an instrument with strings that were stretched over a box lacking a neck. Fretting this instrument, because it is a diatonically fretted instrument, creates the tones in the major scale. There are also some Appalachian mountain dulcimers that possess an extra fret capable of providing another note in addition to the eight standard tones produced in the Western major scale.

This type of dulcimer is made out of a lot of different materials because there is no real constraint for builders to adhere to based on preceding instruments. Early instruments were made out of poplar but now cherry, walnut, redwood and maple are also common.

Photo Credits: MariyaZ

Originally posted 2009-09-30 03:50:59. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Categories:

dulcimer, Instrument History

Tags:

appalachian mountain dulcimer, brilliant range, cimbalom, cymbal, damper, descendant, folk instrument, hackbrett, hammers, lap dulcimer, metal strings, persian instrument, plectrum, s box, santir, santouri, stringed instrument, trapezoid, two instruments, zither